Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash
Since social media became a mainstream thing around 15 years ago, there have been a lot of pros and cons to it. On the plus side, social media allows you to be…well…social! Friends and family who you may not get to see very often are still there with just a few swipes of a screen, and many people feel less isolated after a little scroll through their news-feed. One of the cons, both literally and figuratively speaking, of social media is the way it allows us to be so selective with what we show, and that’s having a knock on effect when it comes to people’s complexions. It may sound tenuous, but believe us, social media can be bad for your skin in more ways than one!
Makes You Try Products You Don’t Need
Social media has evolved to be so much more than just a way to virtually “poke” people you went to school with, and as is the way with most things, capitalism has found a way to turn it into a means to pump adverts directly to you. One study showed that in the 70s, the average person saw between 500 to 1600 adverts per day, but in 2023, it is estimated that the average person encounters between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day! This many adverts means that we see more skincare products crossing our timelines than ever before, tempting us to chop and change, even if we don’t need to.
Filters Kid You into Thinking Texture is Bad
Have you ever found yourself thinking that everyone’s skin seems so smooth and even these days? Well, that’s not some evolutionary thing that’s happening to human skin – it’s filters! Even the most basic filters can make you look as though your skin is silky smooth, and that’s before you even get to things like Photoshop and Facetune, which were once professional tools but now grace the smartphones of millions. If you see someone who has literally zero texture to their skin, it’s almost guaranteed that they’ve edited their images. However, if you want to achieve natural looking smoothness, we highly recommend Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream.
Wear More Make-Up Than You Need
Have you watched YouTube and any of the MILLIONS of make-up tutorials that are out there recently? If you have, you’ve probably noticed that the vast majority of “influencers” wear enough make-up to cover their face five times over. The looks they create are usually great on camera, under studio lighting, but once you step into the real world, they can look cakey and mask-like. If you want a more natural look, we recommend Evolve Organic Beauty Climate Veil Tinted SPF20-Deep, a beautifully tinted, lightweight broad spectrum SPF with mineral light reflecting natural pigments for a luminous dewy finish.
Blue Light Exposure
Aside from the mental effects of social media, the very act of spending time looking at screens can literally affect your skin. The blue light emitted by electronic screens can penetrate the skin and cause oxidative stress, which can lead to premature ageing and other skin issues. Blue light can penetrate the skin more deeply than other types of light. When the skin is exposed to blue light, it can generate free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can cause oxidative stress and damage to the skin cells. This can potentially lead to premature ageing, including the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots. Elemis Pro-Collagen Morning Matrix has been specifically formulated to protect against blue light damage, helping you to roll back the hours spent scrolling through Twitter!
Comparisons Cause Stress
Social media often portrays idealised and filtered versions of people’s lives, leading to constant comparisons and feelings of inadequacy. This can impact your self-esteem and mental well-being, which in turn may affect your skin health. Stress and emotional distress have been linked to skin problems, including acne and psoriasis, which is not something that anyone wants. This Works Stress Check Breathe Out is an 100% natural essential oil blend to help relieve feelings of stress and tension and helps you to manage feelings of stress and pressure wherever you are.